Inertial sensing systems operate through detection of relative displacement between an inertial mass and a base, when the base is subjected to an external force, such as, a perturbation or a vibration. A particular type of inertial sensing system is a gyroscope, which is composed of an inertial mass that is rotated about an axis of inertia and is operated by detecting relative movement between the axis of inertia and a base of the instrument supporting the gyroscope or the force generated by the axis of inertia on the base when the instrument is subjected to an external force, such as, a perturbation or a vibration.
Precise inertial sensing systems are desirable in a number of various applications, such as, navigation and geophysical studies, as well as fundamental issues, such as, testing of general laws of gravity. Inertial sensing systems are, however, often limited due to friction between the inertial mass and the base. In addition, mechanical drift limits precision of mechanical gyroscopes to no better than 10−3ΩE, in which ΩE is the angular velocity of earth.
One way to alleviate some of these problems is through the use of diamagnetic levitation, which uses passive levitation at room temperature. More particularly, diamagnetic materials are known to be repelled by magnetic fields created by permanent magnets and are stably levitated above the permanent magnets.